[surrre] MODERN PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND THEIR METHODS 37 
side of the Indicator that it is ‘in, hands in a request for it, together 
with his ‘borrower’s ticket” The library assistant removes the 
corresponding ledger from its shelf, enters it in the number of the 
borrower’s ticket and the date of the loan, places the ticket in the 
ledger, and replaces it so as to exhibit the ‘ out’ colour to the public.” 
Despite the popularity of the Indicator in England, one finds it hard 
to see how there can be any question as to the superiority of the 
Open Shelf System. combined with the modern charging system of 
cards and trays. 
The first English public library to adopt the Open Shelf System, 
or “ Open Access” as it is called in England, was that at Clerkenwell, 
whose librarian, Mr. James D. Brown, was sent over to the United 
States at the time of the Chicago Exhibition, by his unusually generous 
and far-sighted Library Committee, to study modern American library 
methods. Mr. Brown prefers the term “safeguarded access” as applied 
to the Open Shelf System, it being, he considers, more accurate, since 
it is admitted that various checks on readers and borrowers are neces- 
sary. At Clerkenwell the system applies to the circulating, but not 
to the reference library. The public “enter the library at one side 
of an enclosed counter in which an assistant is placed, and leave with 
him the hooks they are returning. After choosing a volume from 
the open shelves they bring it to the other side of the counter, where 
it is booked for them, and they then leave the library by a different 
door from the one by which they entered. The book-shelves are placed 
end on with the issue counter, so that an assistant stationed there 
can see between each, and has full control of the whole library.” 
A limited form of “ open access ” was tried at the Liverpool Public 
Library a few years ago, but has since been discontinued on account of 
the loss of the books. That this loss was not due to any weakness in the 
system so much as to defective supervision, is proved by the fact 
that the books were shelved in alcoves, where anything like adequate 
supervision would be impossible. 
The system has been adopted in the Croydon Public Library, 
where it has proved eminently satisfactory, the library building having 
been arranged to suit the system. 
In the Wigan Free Library, a special building for boys was opened 
in 1895, and here also a system of open shelving has been adopted. 
At St. Martin’s, London, open access is in vogue, but, reversing 
the Clerkenwell plan, it applies only to the reference department. An 
ingenious device is also in use here to keep readers informed as to 
recent additions to the library. It is known as the “ wheel catalogue,” 
and is placed under glazed portions of the counter. By means of 
